The End? :Continuation of Scream Your Heart Out
by Zinfer
Summary: Luffy's heart had stopped, and it was Zoro's fault. Is there hope for the small crew. Where is hope without their captain. How can he reach them and be their hope? Continuation of Rivermoore's Horse's story Scream Your Heart Out . More chapters comin.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a continuation of "Scream Your Heart Out" by Rivermoore's Horse … cause I didn't want it to end like that… so sudden. Its not like i worship this fic, its just that e said to make up our own ending, so i did, and then i posted it. Thankyou, please R&R. There will be more.**

The End?

Zoro just stood there, supporting his captain who had just given everything for him. He didn't say a word, he didn't sob, he didn't even shake, but tears were glistening as they poured out onto his scarred face. He then laid the boy down on the deck.

This was so wrong; nothing could have ever killed his captain, nothing. But in the end, it was his fault, his responsibility. He thought his responsibility was to protect.

"Guess I failed"

Zoro fell to his knees and embraced the raven haired boy. It was too much for him to bear.

At that moment Chopper trotted up deck. He had smelled a strong scent of blood and was the first to arrive. The others were awaken by Luffys incredible scream, and immediately rushed to the battle scene. It was a horrible sight. Bodies were everywhere, blood coated the wooden deck, and in the middle of it all, there sat the first mate, holding his captain in his arms.

Silence…

Then chaos. What would become of the Mugiwaras without the Straw Hat himself?

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Luffy couldn't feel anything. He couldn't see or hear anything either for that matter. What had happened? Even darkness would have given him some comfort, but there was nothing. His thoughts were all he had left in this world of nothingness.

_The boy remembered standing on deck looking through the fog that night. It seemed like such a long time ago, though it had just been half an hour. Zoro was sleeping in the crows nest. What was the point of looking out when you couldn't see your hand in front of your face._

_Oh how Luffy envied his past self. He was so happy, so at peace. Then those jerks had to come around. Just like all the other bounty hunters…but not. These weren't those usual pirates who depended on their own foolish wits or false strength to win their fights. These were different. There was a small fleet encircling the Merry Go, hidden in the fog undetected. No one on the merry could have suspected. Then they just appeared, like phantoms, no, ghost forming from the thick smog. However, Luffy was no ordinary pirate either. Immediately when their presence was know, Luffy countered all attacks as if he had known they were there the whole time. If viewing the battle, you would have figured Luffy had it all under control, and though his face was stern and calm, he was shocked by the sudden attack. The battle had lasted 30 seconds and the attackers had been silent (except for grunts) so not to awaken the rest of the crew. Luffy was surprised that such a great number of attackers could have snuck up so inaudibly. He had taken out 20, but still, more came. "Too many" he thought to himself. The captain pushed 4 heavy men off of him, then turned to the crows nest. "Oi, Zoro! We've got company!" Zoro and he could take care of these small fries. Luffy was right. Zoro was down in an instant, bandana covering his eyes and katanas gleaming._

_At that moment Luffy spotted from the corner of his eye a shimmering blade aimed for his throat. He blocked with his arms, but the dagger still inflicted a deep wound on the rubber boy's rough skin. The blade remained lodged in his arm as he brought his powerful fist upon the man's cheekbone, shattering it. Only then did he draw the weapon from his arm. Then he felt an excruciating pain in his back and gasped. He mechanically turned and broke the sword, then sent the attacker flying._

_Zoro had just taken down his 10th man when he heard Luffy gasp. He turned his eyes to see Luffy take a moment to steady himself, blood covering his back glistened through the rip in his shirt. Luffy regained control of himself, but he was beginning to be overwhelmed. The bounty hunters had seen that the captain was weakening, so they began to focus their attacks on the young captain._

_Zoro's eyes widened as he saw his captain descend under the overwhelming attack. How dare those cowards attack his wounded captain? Those wretches, they were acting so high and mighty against his captain; his captain who had risked his life to save millions of people in Alabasta; his captain who risked his life for one friend. How dare they?!_

_Zoro's mind went blank, he couldn't control himself. He would kill them; he would protect his captain! Then it came. A new terror had approached the Merry. A dark presence delimited the first mate, his eyes glowed crimson red beneath his black bandanna. He had arrived, the demon swordsman._

_Luffy felt the effects of this transformation. His attackers were swept away, and this other presence had taken their place. It gave him the chills, and he looked up to see Zoro, eyes gleaming red, and his katanas were covered in blood. Luffy was struck with horror, not out of fear of death, or pain, but that his first mate was no longer his first mate, but someone else._

_"ZORO! STOP!" he yelled, but the swordsman could no longer hear his captain. All he could do was keep attacking, keep hacking at his enemies with his swords. Luffy's eyes widened, and he yelled again. There was no change in Zoro's behavior. There was a ruckus downstairs. The rest of the crew had awakened. Now he wished he had called them earlier. He had to reach Zoro, he had to! So Luffy inhaled a load of air, and since he was rubber, his lungs expanded, preparing him for quite a burst. He could hear his heart beating out of control, but ignored the pounding in his ears._

_"ZORO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed. His eardrums popped, his heart was screaming inside of him, but he kept calling the swordsman's name. Then, an excruciating pain arose inside of him. His heart seemed to burst, but that didn't make since. He was rubber, if he could enter gear 2, he should be able to handle this… but the pain did not withdraw from his chest. He saw Zoro stop, then turn. His eyes had returned to their normal state, but they were in shock as the first mate gazed back at his captain. For a moment Luffy couldn't hear anything except his heart pounding in his head. "So it didn't burst" he thought to himself. Then his chest lurched, his eyes lost focus and he stumbled towards the green haired man, who was now just a blotch against the dark sky. Then he was embraced by those powerful arms that he knew belonged to Zoro, his friend. He stopped screaming and began to sob._

_"Luffy, I'm sorry." Luffy heard Zoro's voice crack._

_"You should have stopped… when I told you to" whispered the captain._

_Luffy smiled as he heard Zoro repeat what he had just said. He wasn't mad at his first mate, he was happy that his friend had been returned to him._

_He lost the minute vision he had and rested his head on Zoro's shoulder. He had no strength left._

_"Zoro?"_

_"You're gonna be ok, Luffy, I promise" he heard Zoro say. Then he heard nothing, nothing but his heart, but even now that sound was fading, slowing. Then it was over_.

"I want to go back!" he yelled to himself. He wouldn't do much screaming anytime soon. He wouldn't be doing much of anything for quite some time. But he had to reach his crew, they needed him. He needed them.

If Luffy could have made an expression, he would have been pouting. Not because he had given up, but because he hadn't come up with a solution yet. But hey, there was no rush. It wasn't like he could do anything else at the moment.

Luffy tried to focus on his situation, but his mind kept wondering to his nakama. What had Zoro done? Had he told the others of the attack yet?

"Does he know I'm alive?" Luffy thought frantically, "what will my crew do with my body? ARG! I have to get to them!"

Luffy's frustration did nothing, which made him more frustrated. Then his frustration transformed into sadness.

To Be Continued…


	3. Aftershock

Chopper had taken their captain from Zoro as gently as possible and carried him into the Merry Go. The swordsman clenched his fists tightly to the point where his own blood mixed in with Luffy's blood, which had remained on his hands. It was a sad sight for the rest of the crew. Even Sanji pitied Zoro, but he wouldn't dare walk over to him and comfort him. He'd probably get his head chopped off. The cook wasn't too worried, not only was Chopper the best doctor there was, but Luffy was probably the best healer in existence. Still, there was something about Zoro that made him uneasy, like this wasn't going to pass so easily. The cook began to unconsciously pace the deck, walking over the bodies of their attackers. It was quite a slaughter.

Usopp felt fear enter his heart just by looking at the first mate. Not because the swordsman looked threatening… it was that he didn't. The swordsman looked so, helpless, and sad; Zoro never looked sad. Usopp shivered, then looked around to see how the others were reacting. They all seemed to be keeping their cool. Robin had just come up deck, but didn't seem to be loosing her cool. In fact, she was walking over to Zoro, though Usopp couldn't imagine what she could do to comfort the first mate. Then Nami, well, she wasn't handling it as well as the others, which made him feel a bit better for panicking. She had fallen to her knees and had her head in one of her hands. Tears were pouring from her eyes that were sealed shut, as if to be trying to make what had just happened go away. Then Usopp stopped caring about the others, it didn't matter what they thought, Luffy was close to death, and he was worrying about how to keep his cool in front of the others. He slammed his fist onto the railing of the Merry Go, sometimes he was so vain. But what he really wanted was to know that Luffy was ok, he wanted to know. This was all so sudden, his thoughts were going haywire. Maybe this was a dream.

Then, the marksman spotted them from the corner of his eye. The leftovers of the battle were making an escape through the fog. Three small ships were rowing away as quietly as possible.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Usopp nearly screamed as he grabbed 3 bombs from his weapons bag and took out his slingshot. He placed each one in, one at a time as he obliterated the surviving bounty hunters. Then there was nothing but the sound of gurgling from the sinking ships as they plunged beneath the depths of the sea. Then it was quiet once more. Usopp then leaned his back to the railing of the Merry and slid to the floor, holding his head up and folding his arms up on his knees.

Suddenly, the door to the dining quarters (since there was no medical room) slowly creaked open and Chopper slowly came out with his head down covering his eyes. Everyone, even Zoro who had seemed to loose focus with all reality looked up at their little doctor. The reindeer almost crawled back into the room.

Flashback Chopper took Luffy from Zoro and carried him as tenderly as possible to the dining table inside. He felt abnormal in that room, with just him and his captain. Sure he had patched Luffy up time and time again, but this was different. There was no reassuring snoring, nor calm breathing that only occurred when Luffy was in his worst conditions. Just silence. There was a missing presence there; an emptiness. The small doctor walked over to Luffy getting chills all over his body. The room was abnormally dark and cold. Not like the night before; that night with such high spirits and joy. There was a warmth of that room that was a combination of Sanji's cooking, Usopp's fables, Zoro's grumpiness, Nami's scolding, and Robin's amusement with the rest of them… but Luffy filled it with that joy that completed them; that overwhelming pleasure with everyone. Chopper sighed and looked down at their captain. He checked his pulse… there was nothing. The reindeer began to shake, then immediately went into CPR. Over and over again he pumped Luffy's chest till he was gasping for air and tears were running down his face. Finally he collapsed onto Luffy and grabbed the boy's vest. There in the dark… cold, dining quarters, Chopper sobbed quietly on his captain's chest. End Flashback

"He… he didn't… Chopper paused. His… he… Luffy didn't make it."

No one spoke, their eyes just widened in shock as their own hearts broke inside of them. Then all their thoughts stopped when they heard an unfamiliar sobbing from the center of the deck. They all looked to see Zoro, his head in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably. The whole boat was consumed with indescribable misery at this sight. Now they all were sobbing, their only composed person in the crew had broken.

Then, like a hope where there was none, Zoro was embraced. He saw Nami's ginger hair as it blew beside his face. Her arms were wrapped around his thick neck and her tears poured onto his shoulders and she gave him a soft hug. His broken heart felt comfort in her as she poured her tenderness upon him. The others looked at the two of them in surprise then the warmth that Luffy had brought to the crew returned when they realized that not all was lost. They still had each other. So what they were a captainless pirate crew? They were still nakama, and what Luffy would have wanted was for them to unite together through every hardship. When that concept had entered their hearts, they all joined together around Zoro, embracing the broken first mate with that kindness their captain was so famous for. The Straw Hats would stick together; the love of their captain had given them this unbreakable bond between each of the crewmates that even his death could not separate.

To be continued…


	4. Scavenger

Not far behind the Merry Go, sailed a Marine ship whose captain went by the name "Scavenger". The reason for his nickname was that he was known to scavenge for rare items that others had found who didn't know how special they were. Then he would buy it from them with what seemed to be a high price, only to sell it for far more later. Of course, though he did this mostly with items, it wasn't unusual for him to do it with wanted criminals. If someone had killed or captured a wanted individual, he would present to them a false wanted poster and pay them so they wouldn't have to trouble themselves with going to the authorities. It was his way of "helping out". Of course, once he came to the authorities, he would take the credit for the capture, along with the true bounty.

His ship was huge and his crew was incredibly numerous since he had done such an admirable job on his previous achievements. On the front of the ship hung a beautiful wooden mermaid; she seemed to be plunging from her imprisonment on the ship out towards all who viewed her with a gaze of hope. This gave the whole crew an image of justice just by looking at their ship's façade.

On the same day as the death of Mugiwara, they had been sailing in the same direction as the pirate crew, back into the East Blue, but not with the intention to attack. Scavenger was far too cowardly to assail this incredibly powerful crew, and upon hearing his orders to hunt them down, he had been in terrible disarray. So his plan was to do just what he was ordered, to pursue the Mugiwara pirates. He would just not intercept them.

His plans would change on that fateful day when they picked up a man stranded on a scrap of wood. When he had been revived and was able to speak he told them of what had happened the night before. How him and his crew of bounty hunters had attacked the Straw Hat crew but had failed miserable. However, they had managed to kill off the captain Luffy himself.

Scavenger was shocked by this information, and it was at this time that he fashioned a plan to actually get something out of this assignment.

Luffy

Luffy's mind had drifted into a daze. It seemed there was nothing left in the world for him. Maybe he really was dead and his fate was to float in this nothingness. For some reason this terrified him and he tried to push the thought out of his mind. There had to be hope… somewhere.

Straw Hat Crew

It was the day after, but no one had slept that night. Zoro had returned to his post in the crows nest, not because he had to, just because he didn't want pity from his crew mates. He could get through this on his own. He closed his eyes; he was so mortified from the night before. He was never the one to tear up in any situation. Heck, he never even showed emotions

The swordsman heard a noise below him and to his surprise; the ship's cook was climbing up to him. "Great, the last person I wanted to see" he thought to himself.

Sanji pulled himself up into the crows nest and plopped down beside Zoro, who ignored him. Then it was quiet again. There was a gust of wind that made the sails of the Merry Go heave the ship forward. It was a beautiful day on the East Blue. There were three or four visible clouds but none covered the sun. Above them flew their pirate flag. That flag with the most unthreatening symbol resting upon it. The skull with a goofy grin and a straw concentrated all the emotions of the crew into it… at least what the crews emotions used to be.

For about thirty minutes the cook and the swordsman just sat there, looking over the never ending sea. Then Zoro spoke; "I still have a promise to keep him, and once I achieve my goal to be the greatest swordsman in the world, I hope he knows. I just wish he could be there… but I guess he won't." Sanji remembered the day that Zoro had promised Luffy to never loose another duel. Inside he pitied the swordsman, but knew that was the last thing Zoro needed; so he remained silent. That was until he heard Zoro murmur "oh, and I see a ship coming at 5 o'clock."

"What?!" shouted the Cook, who jumped up and looked in the direction that Zoro had said… There was nothing there. He sighed then turned in the opposite direction to see a very large ship approaching them.

"Of course; I should have remembered his tragic since of direction hasn't changed." Sanji thought to himself. "Oi, guys! Seems there's a ship heading our way, and its huge!"

Everyone was up-deck in an instant; staring out towards the approaching ship. Nami yanked the telescope from Usopp's hands and peered at the vessel.

"They're waving a white flag… but they're a navy ship. Can't they see our pirate flag?" the navigator spoke aloud. Everyone cocked their heads.

"It could be a trick" Zoro muttered.

Robin nodded, then rubbed her head saying "yes, it could be. However, there's no way the Merry Go could out sail such a ship, especially when they're so close. Seems we have no choice but to let them join us for now. If the worst should happen, we can just fight them off. It's better than the Merry Go getting ruined."

The rest of the crew nodded in consent as Usopp ran to retrieve their own white flag.

"Luffy would never have intended to use such a thing" he thought to himself as he pulled the banner from an old dusty box.

The flag was raised and the ship came upon them slowly, then stopping once a rope was thrown down to the Merry Go. A ladder was lowered and the pirate crew prepared themselves for an attack, but none came. I big man with a mustache stepped down the ladder. He had broad shoulders and a narrow head. His eyes were hidden behind a large pair of sunglasses that hardly fit on his face. Draped over his shoulders was a long green cape covered with golden embroideries.

"Greetings don't be alarmed. Though we may frighten you by the fact that we are marines, please don't be" he began.

"Who's frightened?" the crew said together in a bored tone.

"Hoho, I guess you would have no reason to be considering you bounties. Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Captain Scaventon; I'm in charge of this ship."

"Makes since if you're the captain" Sanji mumbled to himself but Scavenger either didn't hear him or ignored him.

"I know you probably don't want us marines hanging around your pirate ship, so I'll make this simple. I came to express my sympathies for your captain. I know about what happened, and I want you to know that you have my greatest empathy and that I came hear to pay my respects."

The crew just stood in shock. How had this man known of their captains death and why the heck would he care?

"May I see him?" the captain asked.

Zoro suddenly shouted out in rage "Who do you think you are?! Why should we show you him! What is he some kind of exhibit?!...You're sick."

There was a pause. Scavenger's eyes widened; then returned to their calm complexion. "You obviously don't understand. I heard from the man we saved that he died of unnatural causes. Are you certain he's dead?"

Chopper nodded, but his face remained cold towards the intruder. However, inside he felt a tremendous thrill that there might be hope for Luffy. "I'll take you to him" the little reindeer said aloud and no one argued. Any chance of getting their captain back they were willing to risk anything for.

So on they went, into dining hall. No one had been in there since Chopper had left the room. No one wanted to see him.

The room was silent when they entered, but despite the awkward essence of it, Scavenger went ahead and stooped over the young captain. He didn't know what to think. Were they faking it to not be caught? He knew how pirates were; deceptive and cruel. Why else would his crew care so much that I he saw him? A real pirate crew would probably be glad to loose their captain. It just meant that one of them would be given control over the group. This had to be a fake, however he couldn't be sure. He needed proof.

Scavenger had planned on buying the Straw Hat's captain from them then turning him in for a fancy bounty, however, this crew didn't seem too thrilled to be giving their captain over to him. So the best he could come up with would be to take advantage of the crew's mental weakness, and their lack of a captain. Since he had previously thought of this beforehand, and had discussed it with his crew to act upon his signal. Before he would call for them he had to be sure that their captain was dead; but how? He couldn't touch their captain; they were already edgy at his presence. He would just have to go straight to the point.

"I know this is a hard time for you, but I'm afraid I cannot help your captain. However, though he has deceased, I can still be of assistance to you. I know that is odd of me since I am a marine, but I have followed your journey through and tales told by those dwelling in the islands and lands you have saved from certain turmoil. Your captain's decisions were definitely admirable, and though you might find it hard to believe, most of us marines think highly of this crew."

At this point, the general was speaking truthfully of other generals, but not himself. He was lying through his teeth, and the crew was catching on.

"Though I cannot change what has happened, I wish to be of aid to what Luffy left behind. To his closest friends who are just as much to thank for what he did. So as my tribute to him, am will give him the honor he always deserved. I am willing to pay you the amount of his bounty, then return him to headquarters where he will get the respect he deserves. Not only will this give him an honorable end, but it will also assist his crew he cared so much about."

The crew was silent, then Usopp shouted out "HECK NO! The only people who knew Luffy and his honorable character were our friends, Shanks and ourselves. There is no way any stupid marines could respect him the way we do! Besides, if there were marines who admired him, they did nothing to show their respect. So no, I don't think anyone here is willing to give him up for your crappy money."

Nami let out a small cough then popped back to face the marine; "yea! So buzz off!"

Scavenger sighed, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Then something most unexpected happened. The marine drew his sword and stabbed it into the side of Monkey D. Luffy, who of course, did not react.

"That clears that up" he said cruelly then shouted "Let's get em' boys!"

That was the last thing Scavenger said, for at that moment his eyes widened in horror and blood gushed from his mouth. With that, his head rolled off of his shoulders to the ground, his body following. The marines gasped in shock, then thrust their guns at the crew.

As for the crew, they were all staring at Zoro in shock.

Had he really just done that? Now they were all in deep trouble.

They all reacted differently. Chopper grabbed Luffy, Nami pulled out her clima tact, Usopp jumped behind the table, Sanji leapt at the men, and Zoro remained in the position he had been in after he had severed Scavenger's head.

The other marines were driven away in fear after what they had seen. They had just drawn their guns out of fear; for Scavenger's crew knew nothing about real bravery since their captain never gave them reason to use courage. One of them grabbed is body, and with that, they all darted out of the door in panic.

The pirate crew was a bit confused about what had just happened, but once the marines had sailed away they snapped back into reality. Nami stormed over to Zoro and smacked him across the head.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" she shouted "Since when do you just up and kill someone without warning?"

Zoro looked away then Chopper shouted out "Guys, get over here!" So the crew rushed over to the little reindeer who was holding Luffy. Nami looked away as blood spilled over the floor from his wound.

"What is it? Sanji asked

"It's his blood, it's still red, and he seems to still have quite a bit of it, at least for now. Quickly, get me some bandages!"

Everyone stood there in a silent state of shock, then jumped into action. In moments they were all back by the doctor's side.

"Zoro, go clean up that mess you made on the floor" Sanji ordered. Zoro let out a growl at the cook, but did as he was told. Grabbing some towels he started to scrub up the crimson blood he had spilled. Now he felt even more shame. Luffy would never have approved of his cruelty and rash actions. He would never have done that in the first place if Luffy had been there. But Luffy wasn't there, and he had gone back to his demon like ways, the same conduct that had caused his captain's death.

"Oi, Zoro! What do you think you're doing? I said clean up, not drill the floor through!"

Zoro looked down to see the floor had chunks of splinter all over it where he had been rubbing. He drew his hand back and let out a groan.

"Stupid wood" he mumbled then finished up his work.

"It's impossible" Chopper said aloud "His heart isn't beating, and he is unquestionably dead, but he seems unchanged. Like his surroundings aren't affecting him at all. He's not stiff; his body seems to be in a sleep, except its not living. I just don't understand. This is completely illogical, and I definitely need to spend much time into documenting and studying these symptoms. More importantly, I will strive to help Luffy as best I can."

"Us as well" everyone said together.

Zoro got up and his eyes widened. Was there hope? Was Scavenger's coming just what they needed to get Luffy back?

Zoro smiled for the first time since Luffy's death. In fact, everyone smiled, and the coldness of the room seemed to fade into warmth. As if Luffy had returned to them already.

The next morning

"So where are we going from here Nami?' asked Usopp.

"The same place we were headed before; Gunkan Island." Nami replied.

To be continued…

Ok, done with another chapter, sorry if it's stupid. Please try to enjoy these. Oh, and if there's anything unscientific in here, feel free to ignore it. I do not care. You'll hear more from Luffy in the next chapter, and maybe this whole think will make since once I finish it. Oh, and for all of you people who aren't obsessive One Piece fans, Gunkan Island is an island from one of the Japanese fillers. You can find it on youtube and its around episode 55. Thank You. Enjoy


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